1st April 2009 - The Scindia School

April 1, 2009 | Number : 909THE SCINDIA SCHOOL REVIEW ’09 pg 04Tragic Happenings in Bangladesh1971Bangla Desh represents a unique situation inthe world history. The people who form themajority of the population are being crushedby the minority. The people of Bangladeshelected Mujibur Rehman and his colleagues.They are being put down by the militarydictators who have ruled East Pakistan fortwenty three years.When Bengal was divided twenty three yearsago along with Punjab, nobody thoughtindependence thus secured by partition ofIndia would lead to suppression of some 72million people by Punjabi Muslims. The originof the struggle really goes back to 1948 whenstudents of Dacca stunned Pakistan and theworld by revolting against Jinnah’s decree thatthere could be only one state language andthat should be Urdu. East Bengal had at thistime 54 million people who spoke Bengali. Tosay ‘no’ to Jinnah was a crime and many werearrested and put into jails. A great riot brokeout and thus the language became the firstcause of struggle.In the election the Awami League won anabsolute majority in the national assembly. Ithad won on a pledge of six points whichdemanded complete regional freedom, exceptin matters of currency, defence and foreignpolicy.Talks were held in Dacca for more then tendays between Yahya Khan and Mujib. Theycould not come to any compromise and EastBengal declared itself an independent nationto be called as Bangla Desh. Thus the greatstruggle started.The situation of Bangla Desh is becomingworse day by day, and it is a very pathetic story.Pakistani aircrafts are bombarding the armlesspeople of Bangla Desh. Their troops are killingall the public servants, students and teachersso that there remains no leader in Bangla Desh.And they are forcing people to run and takeshelter in India.Yahya and his military janta have set a recordof cruelty to human beings which can becompared only with the deeds of Nadir Shahand Chengiz Khan in the world history.Seema Agnihotri(Extract from the School Review, NO. 418,15th November ’71)2009The 25th and 26th of February 2009 weresome of the darkest days in the history ofBangladesh which has seen a lot of turbulenceever since its inception. On these two days thesoldiers of Bangladesh rifles (BDR) revoltedagainst their seniors citing low wages and poorworking conditions as the cause of their mutiny.However it is also being speculated that thismassacre was planned to destabilize thegovernment of Shekh Hasina.The BDR which is second in size to theBangladesh army is headed by officers of therank of brigadier or above. It is responsiblemainly for guarding the country’s borders. Themutiny of the BDR started on 25th of February,2009 when a group of mutineers attacked andkilled BDR director Major General ShakilAhmed at the Darbar hall. This was followedby the brutal killing of a large number of armyofficers which has sent shockwaves throughDhaka. The entire nation is heavy with shockand pain and wants speedy justice for thosewho were slain.Bangladesh government has sought assistancefrom the Federal Bureau of Investigation, USintelligence agency, for probe into the incidentwhich left more than 75 officers dead. Thegovernment has initiated Operation Rebel Huntto arrest the jawans involved in the killing andto recover arms. It has been decided toseverely punish the culprits which would serveas a warning for any future mutineers.When I saw the news on TV. I was numb withhorror. No matter what the grievance I couldnot fathom how people can kill their fellowbeings with such brutality. What is it that makesan educated, disciplined force turnmurderous? As I grapple with these questionsI pray that peace and normalcy return toBangladesh soon.Yashraj Nain, IX-DQUOTE :The first of April, some do sayIs set apart for All Fool’s Day;But why the people call it soNor I, nor they themselves, do know,But on this day are people sentOn purpose for pure merriment.-- AnonymousStudent Exchange -From Gwalior to OswestryMy desire to go for a student exchangeprogram originated when I was in class VIII.One of my seniors who had just returned fromone such exchange was tirelessly recountinghis wonderful experiences. On that day itselfas I listened to him absolutely mesmerized Idecided that I too would be a part of theexchange program one day.The day came very soon when I along with afew other hopefuls was sitting outside thePrincipal’s office for an interview which wouldeventually decide who was to go for theexchange. As I was ushered into the Principal’soffice I realized that through my answers I hadto convince the panel of five members that Iwas worthy enough to represent the schoolabroad. I was put through a host of questionssome of which unnerved me and some whichleft me absolutely confounded. However I didtry to answer all of them with a blend of perfectwit, poise and composure. Sample this -I wasasked how a cow gives white milk though itchews green grass. To this I replied that thiswas possible because the grass gets churnedto form white milk. A volley of such mindboggling questions was fired at me and by theend of the interview I did feel quite satisfiedwith the way I had handled them. In a few daysI was told that I had been selected to go toOswestry School in England. I was overjoyed. Ihad to stay there for the summer term andlearn, among other things their language andculture. I knew that this experience would helpto increase my understanding and toleranceof other cultures, as well as improve mylanguage skills and broaden my socialhorizons.Clearing the interview in school was howeverjust the beginning. A more arduous task likeacquiring the visa and other documents,awaited me. With my father’s and the travelPublished by : The Principal, Scindia School, Gwalior Plates by : Mr Dinesh SiriahStaff Editors : Ms Puja Pant, Dr B.S. Bhakuni, Ms Raksha Siriah Technical Support : Mr Jitendra JawaleEditor-in-Chief : Nishant Rana Printed by : Deepak Screen and Offset Printers (P) Ltd., GwaliorSenior Editors : Prithvi Khanna, Vaibhav Aggarwal, Tarang TripathiAsociate Editors : Rishabh Jain, Ujjaval Agarwal, Kartikeya Bhargava, Tuhin Pandey, URL : www.scindia.eduYashraj Nain, Shashank Singh, Swarn Sadana, Taha Khan OLD BOYS’ SITE : www.scindiaoldboys.comArt Editor : Ojasvi Singh April 1, 2009 | WPP : Regn.No.Gwl.Dn.11Correspondents : Ronit Borpujari, Nimish Pahuja, Prateek Bhalotia, Feedback : review@scindia.eduAditya Sharma, Manas Pant, Sansrisht Bhatia Price : Re. 1If undelivered, please return to : The Scindia School, Fort, Gwalior - 474 008 (M.P.)agent’s efforts this too was done. Moreover Ihad to also make a mental note of all the do’sand don’ts which my mother gave me.I finally boarded the plane –‘Emirates’EK109.I had an eight hour halt at Dubai during whichI moved around the Dubai airport which ismore like a hotel. I reached Manchester at10:30 P.M. The school had sent a cab to fetchme.The Oswestry School is situated in a smallbeautiful town also called Oswestry. It has arich history of 401 years and had been a partof both World War I and World War II.On the first day itself Principal Mr Lampkincalled me to his office to know about thesubjects that I planned to study. I got anopportunity to choose from a wide variety ofsubjects. I opted for Chemistry, Biology,Psychology, Fine Arts and Critical Thinking.Such a unique combination of subjects isunthinkable in India. Critical Thinking was anew subject for me and was taught by thePrincipal himself. It dealt with situations andproblems which we encounter in our daily life.I felt that the G.S.C.E board which they followedthere was relatively easier as compared to theC.B.S.E board and was considered a fairly goodstudent there.Just like in Scindia the students there get up at7 o’ clock and leave for breakfast by 7:30.This is followed by attendance. The similaritiesend here. At Oswestry the school carries on till4:30.p.m. with a brief lunch break at 12 noon.If such a thing were to happen here thestudents would be up in revolt. After 4:30 p.m.they have tea time which is actually dinner. Afterthat was prep time or one could go for an outingif he so desired. Two outings were allowed in aweek.I didn’t quite take a liking to British food asmost of the time it was quite bland. I guess therich and lavish meals served in Scindia havespoilt me thoroughly. During those two monthswe got a mid-term vacation. So Sahnawaz (theother student from Scindia) and I went toLondon. London life is akin to the life in‘Aamchi Mumbai.’ One thing which I foundcommon in both the places is that people runafter trains. Wait! Did I say train? Actually it istrain in India and tubes in London. Living inLondon is wildly extravagant but also great fun.We went around sightseeing and also met theScindians who are at Westminster onscholarship. The exchange soon came to anend. Those six weeks were the most wonderfuldays of my life. What I learnt can’t be expressedin words. I hope to incorporate all thatknowledge into my daily life.Nishant Rana, XI D